Augusta County could renew farmers' viability with solar farms

The property of Max Quillen and his family outside of Lyndhurst where a solar farm would be put once approved by Augusta County. Quillen and his family own Waynesboro Nurseries.

Laura Peters/The News Leader

Laura Peters |
Staunton News Leader |
3:42 pm EDT September 11, 2018

LYNDHURST - The rolling hills of Max Quillen's property has the backdrop of Blue Ridge Mountains.

He and his family, who operate Waynesboro Nurseries outside of Waynesboro in Lyndhurst, have had the land for generations. It first started with his great-grandfather, who purchased the nursery in 1934.

Farming is in his blood. And the desire to hold onto land that's been in his family for decades runs deep.

"We want to keep it in the family, that’s very important to us," he said. "If we can keep the land and keep it profitably, we want to keep it in the family. We do not want to sell it for industry, we do not want to sell it for a subdivision, we don’t want to put it in poultry houses."

But times have been tough, Quillen said. Many still haven't made a full recovery from the Great Recession in 2008. So, farmers are looking for ways to remain viable, keep their land and have a steady stream of income.

That's where solar farms come in.

Although Quillen won't be in charge of the panels himself, he views them as a different type of farming method. It's taking the energy from the sun and creating power for others to use — kind of like food does for people.

"It's kind of like a crop," Quillen said.

He was approached by several solar companies years ago, but most recently, Community Energy approached several farmers in the Stuarts Draft and Lyndhurst areas to lease their land.

Since 1999, Community Energy have developed roughly 1,400 megawatts of solar and wind energy projects operating in 13 states — two of which are in Virginia.

Max Quillen of Waynesboro Nurseries on his family's property outside of Lyndhurst where a solar farm would be put once approved by Augusta County.

Laura Peters/The News Leader

Augusta Solar LLC, under its parent company Community Energy, has proposed to build a 125 megawatt-AC solar energy facility throughout 2,600 acres in Lyndhurst and Stuarts Draft with the panels taking up a maximum of 1,000 of those acres.

If approved, that land could become a major solar energy farm for the next 35 years, with the option to extend the lease for an additional five years.

The solar farms could in theory power 25,000 homes.

Previously, Quillen said he and his family had been trying to find ways to better utilize resources on their property.

The property of Max Quillen and his family outside of Lyndhurst where a solar farm would be put once approved by Augusta County. Quillen and his family own Waynesboro Nurseries.

Laura Peters/The News Leader

"We definitely had the idea to better utilize our land, something like solar, but anything that could generate stable income that could compensate for the ups and downs of the general financial system," he said.

Waynesboro Nurseries operates on about 1,600 acres of land. He and his family have tree growing operations, cattle and offer bulk plant sales for the nurseries — with that about 30 acres of greenhouses, trees in bulk and container plants.

Tom Anderson, of Augusta Solar, has been working on the Augusta County solar farm project for the past two years. Community Energy works with large corporate buyers who are looking to purchase renewable energy.

"Many of those buyers are setting up facilities in Virginia and when they do that they want to source as much of the electricity that’s going to supply those facilities with renewable resources," he said.

Proposed map of the solar farm spread out in Lyndhurst and Stuarts Draft.

Community Energy Solar

How it works

Anderson starts by reaching out to landowners who might be leasing a portion of their property. What he's looking for is a connection to a energy line, flat land and willing landowners.

That's what he found in Augusta County.

Dominion Energy has a transmission system line through nearby the properties where the solar energy will be sent through.

"This has no impact on rates. We’re a private company and the project will be privately owned," he said. "The agreement with the buyer of the electricity is just a two-party agreement. Under transmission system rules, companies like ours are able to tap and deliver electricity into transmission lines owned by all sorts of companies."

Dominion maintains the transmission line, but Augusta Solar would pay all the transmission costs, study costs and other costs involved in the project.

Construction is projected to create between 200 to 350 jobs, which would include local electricians and laborers working on anything from fencing, vegetation, seeding and more. Those jobs expected to last up to a year and the entire project is expected to create an estimated $13 million economic benefit to the area.

"This is a good sustainable way to do this. This project with create a handful of permanent jobs, primarily through local maintenance contracts," Anderson said. “Augusta County can be a leader in developing these job skills. We see Augusta as having some good, tangible outcomes here.”

With solar farms, only a portion of farmers' land will be used. For the majority it’s between 20 to 40 percent of their overall land.

"This is good stable income for them," Anderson said.

And the solar panels are ofter unnoticeable. There isn't major infrastructure that's put in for them, it's just posts into the ground and long grass can be grown around it.

Then after the lease is done, the land will be returned to farmable soil — or even better soil, Quillen said. Since the land is basically undisturbed for decades and long grasses are grown on them instead, a rich soil is produced. It's like virgin land.

"In 30 years, things will have changed a lot, but the land will still be there," Quillen said.

Keeping farming in the family for generations

Jim Kindig is a sixth generation farmer in Stuarts Draft. He, like Quillen, had been approached by several other companies to lease his land for a solar farm a few years ago.

He has property along U.S. 340 and also in Sherando totaling 860 acres. Although he won't be able to use 30 percent of his farm for agriculture, the stable income he'd get from the solar farm is a big deciding factor.

"It’s going to make a big difference," he said. "It’s very minimal impact to us. And if we need more property we have neighbors all around us that are right now leasing our property, so there’s more than enough property if we need more pasture or crop.

"It’s a solid revenue stream and does not require us to sell our property and it’s minimal impact," he added.

The property of Max Quillen and his family outside of Lyndhurst where a solar farm would be put once approved by Augusta County. Quillen and his family own Waynesboro Nurseries.

Laura Peters/The News Leader

He's seen the hardships his family and fellow farmers have gone through. His farm, Kinmont Farm, has been in his family since 1821 — and he doesn't want to see big industry buy it and take over.

"It’s been extremely difficult. I have relatives that have had to sell their property. For them that was a good alternative. We’ve had other relatives had to sell their property because they had trouble farming it," he said.

His farm operation has cattle, pasture, hay and other crops. The per acre profit you might make with that is somewhere between $50-200 an acre.

"With solar is substantially more than that, with no risk," Kindig said. "It allows us to maintain the property without having to be worried as much of not making a profit."

This isn't the first time Kindig has found alternative uses for his property with minimal impact. About 20 years ago, he leased a portion of his property to a friend for a driving range.

"That helped diversify the revenue to some degree and did not really impact what we were doing as far as farming," he said.

Both Kindig and Quillen say the majority of neighbors and other farmers are on board with the solar farm.

"I know the other folks that are in this project they pretty much feel the same way we do. It gives them a way to diversify their revenue," Kindig said. "We have no desire for having any of our property in industrial use."

The Augusta County Board of Supervisors is set to conduct a public hearing about the special use permit Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. They will consider Augusta Solar LLC’s application for the permit to construct and operate the solar farm on property owned by a handful of Augusta County residents.